giant extinct tree from victorian times

Kveto from Prague · Post by **Kveto from Prague** » Sat January 24th, 2009, 11:46 am

im gonna throw this one out and see if anybody can help.

im looking for drawings of an certain extinct tree and i dont know the name. it was a giant massive type that formed a kind of umbrella. in victorian times (or thereabouts) it was common to picnic under them which is where most of our knowledge of them comes from. i think they were found in north america (maybe europe but probably not) and were wiped out by a disease or something 100 years ago.

does this ring any bells? without the name of this species i cant really research them.

thanx for any help,
keny

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Sat January 24th, 2009, 5:06 pm

Hey keny... would you know the name if you saw it? Where did you first learn of it? Is it mentioned in any books that you've read that you could re-read or skim through? I did a search on Google for a list of extinct trees. The first on the search results is a list on Wikipedia. It's divided into continents and the modern extinctions go back to at least 1808. Perhaps you can begin there? I'll keep looking and share some other links for you to scour.

LCW · Post by **LCW** » Sun January 25th, 2009, 4:40 pm

Are you thinking of the Chestnut tree? They're not extinct but their numbers are greatly reduced because of Chestnut Blight, a disease caused by a fungus that was introduced here by Europeans. Here's a picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... t_tree.jpg

There was also a big outbreak of diseases that affected Elm trees although, if memory serves me, that happened mid 20th century when trees began being planted extremely close together during the building of the suburbs.

ETA: Whoops, I double checked myself and it seems as if Chestnut Blight originated in the Orient. That's what I get for relying on the memory of some distant Ecological class years ago....and before my coffee even!

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Mon January 26th, 2009, 2:34 am

I agree with LCW... or rather the people on About.com's forestry forum agree. The American Chestnut is the only tree that's come close to being extinct in the last century fitting your description.

Kveto from Prague · Post by **Kveto from Prague** » Mon January 26th, 2009, 8:29 pm

thanx. sorry been away for awhile.

i guess its the chestnut tree. i tried googling "giant chestnut tree" and got this. http://www.chattoogariver.org/content/q ... mchnut.jpg

but not the old victorian pics of really giant ones. i remembered that bill bryson talked about one of these trees (chestnut?) in one of his later novels and about how they no longer exist or are as immpressive as they were in the old days. anyway, ill go read up on the giant chestnuts and see if those were what im after.

thanks for the help, rowan and lwc

annis · Post by **annis** » Tue January 27th, 2009, 3:48 am

That rings a bell, keny. I remember Bill Bryson talking nostalgically about the giant American chestnut in his book about the Appalachian Trail, "A Walk in the Woods", and he does mention people picnicking under them.

LCW · Post by **LCW** » Tue January 27th, 2009, 7:48 pm

I have A Walk in the Woods here on Mt. TBR. It looks really good!

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed January 28th, 2009, 6:29 am

I really enjoy Bill Bryson's books- they're both informative and very funny - the sort that have you chortling away as you read, much to everyone else's annoyance